Memories in the Rain
by princessofthecoast
Summary: After 10 years, the Kaiba brothers return to their childhood home. The discovery of their mother's diary leads them to discover more about themselves, and their past. A story of love, family, and remembering what is truly important. ON HIATUS
1. another rainy day

A/N: This idea popped into my head at like 3am this morning, and I can't stop thinking about it. So I'm hoping that if I turn my idea into a fanfiction, I'll get some sleep tonight. This has nothing to do with my previous stories, just so you know. I'm really hoping I can pull this off, because the format of this story is kind of complicated.

So hear we go: I don't own Yugioh, or its wonderful characters. I do own Iris, Hiro, Jack, Akito, and any other characters that I might come up with.

**_Memories in the Rain_**

chapter 1

It was a cold, rainy day in Domino City, Japan. Seto Kaiba sat in his office, looking out his window. He hated the rain. It seemed that every bad thing that had happened to him in his life had happend while it was raining.

Days like today brought back painful memories, memories of his parents, of his childhood: memories he worked so hard to supress all these years. It had been nearly 10 years since his father died, 13 since his mother had.

His train of thought was interrupted by the buzzing of the intercom. Muttering under his breath, he pressed the button. "What do you want, Hilary?" he growled at his secratary.

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Kaiba, but there is someone here to see you."

"Does he have an appointment?"

"Well, no, but he insists that its of the utmost importance."

"Tell him to come back when he has an appointment." he snarled.

"He says it concerns your parents, and something about an inheritance."

This surprised the 20 year old billionare. He had never told anyone of his previous identity, lest any long lost 'realatives' showed up begging for money. He wondered just who this man could be.

"Very well, send him in."

"Yes sir."

He sat at his desk, and put his best 'I am in complete control' look on. The door opened, and in walked a tall man with graying brown hair and blue eyes. He was a bit familiar, but Kaiba couldn't quite place him.

"Seto, you were one hard person to track down." he said, breaking into a warm smile, "Dear god, you look just like Iris."

"How the hell do you know my mother's name?" Kaiba demanded.

"Don't you remember me, Seto? No, I guess you wouldn't, you haven't seen me since you were seven. I'm your mother's brother. I'm your uncle Jack."

Instantly, Kaiba remembered him, standing beside his mother's coffin, weeping at the sight of her beautiful, cold expressionless face, so unlike the smile she constantly wore in life. His american uncle, Jack LaSalle.

"Well, what do you want from me, Jack?" he demanded, "Money?"

"No no no! I don't want anything from you. I've actually got something for you."

"Oh? And what do you have for me, the richest man in Japan?"

"This," the older man said, handing his nephew an envelope. Giving him a suspisious glare, he opened the envelope and read the letter inside. His eyes grew wide at what it said.

"My father's brother was arrested?"

"Yes. I turned him in for stealing what rightfully belonged to you and your brother."

"Why did you do that? What were you hoping to gain?"

His uncle looked hurt. "For gods sake, Seto! I just wanted justice to be served to that asshole. After what he did, I'm surprised you don't feel the same! I don't want anything from you!"

Kaiba felt a little guilty. His long lost uncle seemed sincere, and it had been his dearest wish at one point to do just what Jack LaSalle had done. "I'm sorry. You must understand that I have to be cautious."

"Thats alright. I'm just happy that Akito Nozomi is finally getting what he deserves."

"So what did we get? From our parents?"

"I think there is a list inside."

He looked inside the envelope again, and sure enough, there was a second sheet inside. A list. He read it over.

"So Mokuba and I have inheritated our parent's house, and our father's music company?"

"Yes. Sorry there isn't any money, Akito still has control over that until after the trial."

"Well, thats fine. I don't need money. But it IS satisfying to know that after all these years, Nozomi Records is in my control."

Jack nodded. "Your father devoted his life to his company. It's good to know that it is in good hands again."

"How can I ever thank you?"

"I simply need you to be at your old house in Torino saturday morning at 9 am. The lawyers wish to confirm that everything is in order."

Kaiba stood and shook his uncle's hand. With an extremely wide grin, the older man took his leave.

He sat back at his desk, and swiveled his chair to look out the window. The rain had stopped.

'figures,' he thought, 'today is the first time something good's happend to me in a long time...'

A/N: And that was chapter 1. Next chapter, the story takes off. It is extremely sad. I tear up just thinking about it. I only hope that I can deliver it well enough that you can feel all the emotion that I feel. Until then:

REVIEW!!!!!!!!


	2. Return to Torino

A/N: A special thanks to Menchi and Dark Necrofear for being my first reviewers, and to KatrinaKaiba and FightOrFlight for adding me to their Story Alert. You guys are super special awesome!

I do not own Yugioh. Ha! You can't sue me!

**_Memories in the Rain_**

chapter 2

Saturday morning,Seto and Mokuba Kaiba sat in their limo, on their way to the house they never thought they'd ever return to. Mokuba was surprised that his brother was willing to do this. He was always so reluctant to talk about the painful events of their past, saying that the past was over, and the only thing that mattered was what was happening right now. Mokuba didn't know whether or not he was right, but he wished that his brother would tell him a little about the mother that had died when he was just a baby. He did have a few memories of his father, no matter how faint, but his mother... she was just a blank. Not surprising, he supposed, as he had only been five months old at the time.

They had been driving for about an hour, when they reached the city of Torino. Torino was a big city, similar in size to Domino. They passed through the buissness district, and the brothers spotted their father's old record company, Nozomi Sound Records. Kaiba felt a sharp pain in his gut, looking at the cold steel and glass structure. They drove on, away from the busy streets, and down a quiet street, lined with houses. Aways down, he stopped the driver in front of a gate.The pain in Kaiba's stomach turned quickly to nausea as the brothers looked in awe at their childhood home.

It was nothing special, just a two story, four bedroom house. Certainly nothing compared to the mansion they lived in now. Any way, this was not their house any longer. It was in good shape, but it was painfully obvious that it had not been lived in for ten years. It had a cold, empty feel to it. The flowers that their father had planted were gone, as was the shed that their mother used for her workshop. It looked as impersonal as a model home.

They got out of the limo, and proceed to walk through the front gates, to the front door. Kaiba rang the door bell. The sound echoed within the house, like a ghost from the past. The door opened, and Jack LaSalle peered out.

"Ah, good. You guys are right on time. Come on in."

The brothers stepped into the front hall. There was a thick layer of dust covering the hardwood floors, disturbed by the recent footprints left by their uncle and what looked like two other people. The brothers removed their shoes.

"This way, boys," Jack said, gesturing to the living room. They followed him, and found in the room, two other men sitting on the faded, dusty sofa. One was tall and fat, with dark brown hair and cold grey eyes. The other was older, a slight, skinny man, balding, with white hair and brown eyes.

"Seto, Mokuba, this is Joseph Thompson, and Hitori Sasama. Mr. Thompson is my lawyer from america, Mr. Sasama is the lawyer I hired to help me in my lawsuit against Akito Nozomi."

"Pleasure to meet you," the heavy man said, getting to his feet, shaking the brother's hands, "Hitori Sasama."

"Joseph Thompson," the old man said, also shaking the boy's hands.

"Good to meet you both," Kaiba said.

"Please, sit." Thompson said, gesturing to two chairs across from the couch. The boys edged over, and sat carefully on the dusty furniture, flaring up a cloud of dust.

"Now, as you boys know from my letter, we recently uncovered your uncle, Akito Nozomi's embezzlement of your father's company, and your inheritance," Sasama said, plopping down on the sofa, "He is in custody, waiting trial. We managed to secure the house and the company for you, but the money is stillin your uncle's control."

"I don't need money. I don't even need the company." Kaiba said coldly, "I'm only here to settle the affairs of my parents."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that you don't need any of those things. You see, while running Nozomi Sound Records, your uncle ran up huge debts. We have to sell the house. We may even need to sell the company."

"But thats my father's life work!" Mokuba protested, "you can't sell it!"

"Well, if we sell the house, and the Kaiba Corperation takes control of its finances, we may not need to,"Sasama said, "It really comes down to what you want to do."

"Seto, we can't sell Nozomi Sound. It's all we've got left of dad's. Please!" Mokuba whined. Kaiba looked from his brother's sad face, to the lawyers unwavered, no nonsense expressions, then to his uncle's sad one, and finally around the dusty room he had spent so much time in as a child.

"I'll need some time to think about it." He said softly," Mokuba's right, this is my father's legacy. I can't be too rash in making this decison."

Thompson nodded in agreement. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Kaiba. The trouble is, we can only give you till tuesday to make your decision."

"That's all?"Mokuba asked

"The brokers insist."

Kaiba nodded."We understand."

"Good. Now then, the question is, what do you want to do with your personal possesions? Photos, anything that can't be sold?" Thompson asked, leaning foreward.

"Can you have them delivered to my house?"

The old man smiled a very gummy smile. "Of course we can. We were inspecting the house, and all personal things seem to be in boxes in the attic. I can arrange to have them delivered to you tomorrow."

"Thats great!" Mokuba exclaimed, "Can they deliver tomorrow, Seto?"

"That sounds fine."

"Wonderful. Now that we've got that out of the way, we should set a date for an auction on the house and all its contents," Sasama said.

"Wait, we can't keep the house?" Mokuba asked.

"No, I'm sorry, but the brokers insist that the house must be sold. They refuse to negotiate it."

"Mokuba, we can't hold on to the past. We've moved on, and now is not the time to get nostalgic. Set any day you want, it doesn't matter to me."

"Very well then. I guess we are done here." Sasama said, getting to his feet, "Drop off will probably be between 10 am and 5pm tomorrow."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Kaiba," Thompson said, shaking Kaiba's hand.

"No gentlemen, thank you. Lets go Mokuba."

Kaiba stalked out of the house, Mokuba close on his tail.

Jack LaSalle looked out the window as his nephews left. He wished he could have talked to them privately, more intimatly. They were the only family he had left,and he longed to get closer to them.

But from what he had seen, time and bad experience had made Seto cold and bitter.

And it broke his heart.

A/N: Okay, I lied. The story takes off NEXT chapter. Among their parent's possesions, the brothers Kaiba find something very interesting. Oh wait. You already know what it is, its in my summary. Ah well. I'm trying to figure out how to write the diary flashback parts. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon.

Review please!!! I heart feedback.


	3. The Discovery

I do not own Yugioh. I'm merely borrowing it from Takahashi-sensei for my amusement,and hopefully yours as well.

_**Memories in the Rain**_

Chapter 3

Around five thirty the next day, Seto Kaiba paced around his living room, glancing at the clock above the mantle every few seconds. Mokuba sat on the leather sofa, feet on the coffee table, playing his DS. He found it hard to concentrate with his brother's incesent pacing.

"Where the hell are they?" Kaiba growled.

"Relax, Seto," Mokuba said, not removing his eyes from his game.

"I will not relax! They were supposed to be here by now! I've got a meeting in three hours! And would you look at me when you're talking to me?"

"No."

Kaiba looked mildy annoyed."Why the hell not?"

"Link will die if I do that."

He groaned and turned to look at the clock again. Five forty. 'damn it all,' he thought. This meeting was extremely important, and if he missed it on account of those incompetant lawyers, heads would roll.

Then, thank the gods, he heard a vehicle pulling up the driveway. He ran into the entry hall, and flung the door open. A small moving truck was parked outside the house.

Two men got out of the cab. The driver aproached him. The other opened up the end of the truck and set up the ramp.

"Seto Kaiba?" the driver asked.

"Yes."

He nodded."All right, Murph, bring it in!"

The mover pulled a two wheeler up to the house, loaded with boxes. He set the stack inside the house, and got back in the truck.

Kaiba was in awe. "Is that it?"

"That's it."

"Five boxes?"

"Thats all that was in the truck."

"All right then. Get off my property." Kaiba snapped. The driver looked agast, and turned and ran back to the truck. He started the truck and sped off down the driveway, and around the corner.

Kaiba sighed, and went back in the house. He could hardly believe that five boxes was all that they were getting out of their old house. He was ashamed of himself for letting his guard down and getting a little excited.

"Mokuba, help me take these up to the attic," he said, picking up the heaviest one. His brother didn't even flinch.

"MOKUBA!"

"HUH?" the thirteen year old cried, jumping about a foot in the air, looking at his older brother. The music from his game suddenly turned sad . He turned his attention to it "Shit! Link died! What the hell did you want?"

"First off, watch your mouth! Help me take these up to the attic."

Groaning, he got off the couch and stomped into the hallway. He looked with disdain at the boxes on the floor. "Is that it?"

"Thats it. Grab a box," Kaiba said, starting up the stairs. Mokuba followed him, muttering under his breath.

It didn't take long for them to take the five boxes upstairs and store them in a distant corner of their attic. Kaiba was about to shut off the light, when he noticed Mokuba rifling through one of the boxes. "Mokuba, get out of there!" he snapped.

"Why? Its our stuff."

"Now, Mokuba!"

"Come on, Seto," he whined, "aren't you at least a little bit curious? There's a bunch of photos of us when we were kids, pictures of mom and dad, dad as a kid... hey, whats up with this?"

"What?"

"This book," Mokuba said, flipping through the pages of a small, thick book with a hard, faded blue cover, "Its written in english."

"Oh, thats probably mom's. She was american. Now put it back, and lets go back downstairs."

"Okay, but can I take this with me?"

"I don't care, just get your ass downstairs!"

"Okay bro," he said happily. He ran down the stairs and jumped onto the couch. He opened it and tried to read it. But unfortunatly, where he spoke english fluently,he struggled with reading it. Frustrated, he throught he book down on the floor. Two slips of paper slipped out of it. Curious, he picked them up. One was a scrap with what looked like a phone number on it, the other too his surprise, was a photo of his mother, holding a baby girl.

"Seto, who is this?" he asked his brother. who had just come back down the stairs.

"Who's who, Mokuba?" he asked.

"The baby in this picture. Its wrapped in pink, so I assume its not one of us."

"Let me see that," Kaiba snapped, snatching the photo from his brother. He inspected it for a moment. "I have no idea, Mokuba. Where did you find it?"

"In this," he said, holding the book up, "Can you read it to me big brother? You know my english isn't the best."

"All right, but I have to get ready to go, so I can't read too much." he said, sitting down beside his brother. He opened the book to the first page. There, in delicate writing were the words:

_This book is the property of Iris Elaine LaSalle._

He turned the page, and found a diary entry. He read aloud:

_August 12, 1979_

_Today, I moved into my brother Jack's apartment. He's lives near Berkeley, which is convienient, since thats where I'll be starting in a few weeks. I love him and every thing, but he's always so busy. He's given me this book, so I can vent without actually having to talk to him. A nice guesture, I suppose, but how do you express your feelings to a book. A book doesn't care how miserable you are. A book doesn't care that your parents are dead, or that the aunt you've been living with was so against you going to college, that she flat out refuses to pay for it. Oh yes. Aunt Gertrude thinks that my future should be spent not as the computer programmer I want to be, but as a happy housewife and baby machine. Thank god my big brother invited me tocome live with him, and to help pay for my schooling, although he tells me that computer programming is a waste of time. I miss mom and dad. They wouldn't tell me to give up on my dreams, they'd encourage me until I was tired of hearing it. Why did they have to get on that stupid plane? I saw the wreckage on the news, it was the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life. So horrible, I wouldn't fly in from LA. I took the bus._

_Wow. I guess Jack had a good idea. I actually feel better..._

"Wow Seto. I didn't know mom was an orphan like us."

"Yeah, she told me once that they died when she was 15," Kaiba muttered, skimming over the next few pages, "She didn't write in this every day. Only when she wanted to get something off her chest, from the looks of it."

"Read some more!"

"All right, here is one that might interest you:"

_January 20, 1980_

_We got a new neighbor today. His name is Hiroshi Nozomi. He's a musician from Japan, studying abroad for a year. He is absolutely gorgeous, with all this thick, black hair, and the most amazing grey eyes. I saw him this morning when I was taking out the garbage, and I could feel my jaw drop. I'm sure I looked like an idiot, standing there in my blue pajama's, the ones with the yellow ducks on them, my hair matted and standing on end, with my mouth hanging open, but he smiled politley and said hello. For someone who's only been in this country a few days, his engilsh is very good. I noticed that when he was here introducing himself to Jack and myself._

"Girls," Seto said, rolling his eyes.

"They sure like that mushy stuff, don't they?"

"Well, if you think about it, if it weren't for this girl's 'mushy stuff', we wouldn't exist."

"Yeah, I guess," the younger boy agreed,"Read another!"

"All right, but this is the last one. I've got to get ready for my meeting:"

_Febuary 12, 1980_

_Hiroshi talked to me today! He came into the computer lab today, just as I was packing up. He seems really interested in my ambition to become a computer programmer. I found out that he's studying to take over his dad's music company someday, and to get a hand in international buisness, he decided to spend his senior year here. I'm really excited that he's actually speaking to me. It makes me think that maybe, just maybe, he might like me. And that just makes me smile. _

"Awww. How sweet." Mokuba said with a smile.

"Yeah, adorable," Kaiba said, thrusting the book into his brother's hands, "I'm going to take a shower and get dressed for my meeting."

He got off the couch, and ran up the stairs. Mokuba put his feet back up on the table, and began flipping through the book again. Maybe his english wasn't the best, but maybe reading throught this would make it better...

A/N: And there is chapter 3. Not very exciting, but it will do. Thanks to all who reviewed, and are actually enjoying this crappy little story. Its not turning out the way I wanted it to, hopefully it will get better. If you like this, and want me to continue, then click that little purple button down their, and tell me. I want at least five reviews before I continue on. I might just scrap this story.


	4. Sunday night

A/N: My muse has deserted me. That's the reason behind the slow updates. But I figure I better at least try to squeeze out another chapter, so lets see how it turns out.

I own nothing.

**_Memories in the Rain_**

**_chapter 4_**

It was past midnight when he came sneaking back into the mansion. He truly hated these meetings, with idiots who thought they knew everything, when in fact, they knew absolutely nothing. And this one had gone on a lot longer than he had anticipated. If the morons he hired did their jobs properly, he would have been home at least two hours ago.

He quietly shut the door behind him, so as not to wake Mokuba. He set his briefcase on the floor beside the coat rack. He was about to go upstairs and crawl into bed for a well earned nights sleep, when something on the couch caught his eye. Mokuba, sprawled out on the floor in front of the TV, fast asleep.

He groaned, and padded into the living room and crouched down beside his brother. He shook him gentley and whispered softly, "Wake up, Mokuba. Go to bed."

His brother didn't respond, just let out a very loud snore. Kaiba groaned, rolled his eyes, and scooped him up into his arms.

"Dear lord, you're getting heavy," he said, teetering dangerously as he headed upstairs. He kicked his brother's door and it swung open. He carefully set him down on the bed, and tucked him in. Kaiba noticed their mother's diary clenched in Mokuba's hands. He pried it out of his hands, and took it with him as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

His first thought was to take the book back up to the attic. Hide it from Mokuba. He didn't want his little brother to get to attached to the small book, to the private thoughts and feelings of the mother he had never known. It couldn't be healthy for him.

He stepped lightly up the stairs leading to the third floor. If there was one thing he knew, it was that memories of the past only got in the way. The only thing that truly mattered was the here and now, and looking to the future. His mother had told him that. A valuable lesson that he carried with him. One of the only ones she had ever been able to teach him in the seven years she had been in his life.

He was kicking up a cloud of dust as he walked down the third floor hallway towards the attic stairs. They never used the third floor, so he simply told the maids to forget about cleaning it. He pulled down the cord, reaveling the stairs, when he thought about something his father had told him years ago. Thirteen years ago, to be exact. At his mother's wake.

FLASHBACK

**_"Dad, why did mommy have to die?" the seven year old boy sobbed in to his father's pants leg.The tall, dark haired man looked down on his eldest son._**

**_"Seto, lets go for a walk," Hiroshi Nozomi said softly, taking the boy's quivering hand, and leading him into another room. _**

**_"Uncle Akito told me that mommy didn't love me anymore. That she died on purpose, so she wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. Thats why she had Mokuba."_**

**_"Seto, don't listen to anything Akito tells you. Your mother loved you very much. And she also loved Mokuba. That's why she chose to give him life, even at the cost of her own."_**

**_"But why did she have to die, and leave me all alone?" Seto sniffed._**

**_"You're not alone, Seto. As long as you have family, you're never truly alone. You have me, and you have Mokuba."_**

**_"But what good is Mokuba? He's not any fun, he just sleeps and cries and poops."_**

**_"He'll grow, and in a months, you'll love him. A brother is supposed to be the best friend you'll ever have."_**

**_"So is uncle Akito your best friend?"_**

**_"Well, son, Akito and I are a bad example. A better example would be your mother, and her older brother Jack. Did you see the way he was crying? Iris was his best friend, and he's hurting very much."_**

**_"I guess."_**

**_"You know, Seto, your mother held family in very high value. You know what would be the best way to keep your mother's memory alive is to always protect your little brother. No matter what, I want you to always take care of him, and do your very best to keep him safe. Do you think you can promise me that, Seto?"_**

**_"Sure," the boy said with a shrug._**

**_"Good. And something else, Seto. Mokuba isn't going to remember anything about your mother. There is going to come a time when he's going to want to know about her. So when that time comes, you and I will have to be sure to share all the memories we have of her..."_**

END FLASHBACK

Kaiba realized that the day his father had warned him would come finally had. Mokuba was at an age now where his guidence alone wasn't enough. And if having her diary was going to help him, then he supposed he owed it to his little brother to let him have this little momento, the last link they had to a truly amazing woman.

He set the stairs back up, and went back down stairs. He snuck back into his brother's room, and set the little book down on the nightstand. He looked at his little brother, smiling softly.

"I can promise you that, Dad. I'll always love and care for Mokuba. Always."

A/N: hi again. its me. That was my first chapter using the used muse I got off E-bay. I hope she's doing me justice.

Review please.

Love ya!


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